Chinese aerialists win both men’s and women’s events; Pack makes podium{mosimage}USSA — Chinese aerialists won men’s and women’s World Cup aerials contests Saturday in the next-to-last events of the season. Joe Pack finished third behind Xiaotao Ou for his second straight podium after missing the first part of the season with back and knee problems while Kate Reed was fifth as Nina Li won the women’s event.

On a sunny day with temperatures in the mid-20s at Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic, Ou won with 254.75 points and Canadian Steve Omischl clinched the men’s World Cup title, finishing second. With one meet left, Omischl has 818 points with Belarussian Dmitri Dashinski second at 648.

Pack had 248.50 points on a full, double-full, full and a double-full, full, full – two quad-twisting triples (four twists, three flips) – while Jeret Peterson (Boise, ID) was 10th.

“Pretty intense comp,” said Pack, who stands fifth in the points. A year ago, he also was third at Spindleruv Mlyn. “You’ve got 254 [points], 253 and I had 248 and would’ve had more with a better landing on my first jump … but it’s good, it’s good. The judges were right on the scoring, and that’s what you always want.”

Li won the women’s event with 200.74 points to 198.26 for World Cup champion Alisa Camplin of Australia. Reed finished with 171.14.

Aerials head coach Matt Christensen said, “This was a good competition and we had Deer Valley weather — sunshine, warm, just beautiful. Joe pulled his feet a little on his first landing, had a little ‘wheelie’ or he might’ve taken it. Still, back-to-back podiums [top-3s] for Joe … we’re happy. And Kate, who’s going to be working to boost her DD [degree of difficulty] this summer, was maxed-out on her points, so this is another good comp for her.”

The last aerials event will be March 10 during World Cup Finals at Sestriere, Italy.